No.262 Of St Patrick's Day and What it Brings

St Patrick's Day hey. One of the best marketing days ever invented or am I just being cynical after Mother's Day and with Father's Day fast approaching? Will we have so many Days to mark soon that there will actually be a Day free day? I am listening to Chrisie Moore on the stereo at the moment so I am taking part - in part at least....

For me St Patrick's Day it means no phone, no employees, no distractions and loads of productive work. Bring us some more of these days please.

No.261 Of The Power of One MG

Oh love-a-duck. I ran one over this morning. The poor thing didn't believe that at 7a.m. in a country lane an MG would be flying round the corner unable to stop. Either that or he was playing a dangerous game of bluff which he lost. There were feathers and fluff everywhere.

I'm in need of a good book to read at the moment - one of those you can't put down and when you do can't wait to pick up again. A friend of mine has recommended "The Power of One" so I'll give that a go later this week.

I've loads of meetings this week, a trip to Dublin Friday and with a bit of luck three games of tennis to play. Ho hum. Bring it on....

No.260 Of The Six Mile Do-Gooders

I took part in the great Six Mile Water river clean up yesterday along with 6 other volunteer do-gooders.

In the space of just three hours we manage to clear enough rubbish out of a stretch of water no longer than half a mile to fill an industrial sized skip. Don't get me wrong it's not a particularly dirty river but search hand enough and it's amazing what you can unearth. We found lots of corrugated iron, loads of plastic bags (shame on us all), half a small fridge, one side of an oil tank, a pair of shoes and two antiques (auction estimate £100 each).

Featured above is Gary. When he's not cleaning up rivers he works as a deep sea diver off the Scottish Coast. One of our number was concerned he'd fall out the boat and get into difficulties in the ankle deep water. It's strange what worries some people.

No.259 Of Black Lincolns

I finally finished my 900 page book last night on Abraham Lincoln. It was an exhausting but superb read. He is without doubt one of the greatest leaders ever. He's a white Mandela or perhaps Mandela is a black Lincoln (isn't a Black Lincoln a car?).

As one book reviewer on Amazon writes "Senior-level executives can learn a number of important lessons in leadership by reading this book. They include:

1. Surround yourself with whatever talent the given enterprise requires.
2. Welcome, indeed strongly encourage principled dissent.
3. Timing is not everything but often the difference between success and failure.
4. Exercise selective hearing during a contentious group discussion.
5. Unless absolutely certain, be willing to grant benefit of the doubt.
6. Exhaust opponents by listening to them.
7. Appreciate effort but only reward performance.
8. Serve “with malice toward none, with charity for all”
9. And lead “with firmness in the right.”
10. When dealing with forceful personalities, focus on common interests."

He captures it perfectly.

No.258 Of Love & Neglect

I was almost let down by my best friend this morning. She started first time and we cruised comfortably at a steady 55mph in the direction of Lough Neagh as the sun rose and life was great.

After a brief separation involving the Antrim Pool Car Park for 30 minutes we continued to the Antrim Road Roundabout which is where I thought we were going to share an embarrassing moment. She coughed, cackled, choked and complained her way round the roundabout as I dropped steadily through the gears in case it mattered. We crawled up the road then came the level crossing. I remembered how much I had forgotten her over the winter and wondered whether she was planning a major moment of payback and revenge. I held my breath as I felt my body push in the car towards and over the lines. We made it.

Love, fear, relief all in the first hour of my morning....

No.257 Of Forecasting the Inevitable

It's another beaut of a day here today with another three to come according to the forecasters and right now I want to believe they're always right.

The river behind my house is sparkling as it goes by. It's very inviting too at least in terms of putting a boat on it and paddling down to Lough Neagh rather than diving in for a swim. Last year I had a boat but my nephew and I sank in it half way to our destination. Happily it was right outside the pub(Ellie May's) so we were able to enjoy a good couple of pints in our rubber suits as we waited for our taxi home. This year I think I may invest in a slightly more sturdy model; swap if you will an MG for a BMW. I might even invite said nephew to come launch it. Something tells me he wont step in it this time. No sense of adventure youngsters nowadays I find.

No.256 Of Sending Out the Right Messages

Environmentally I'm not very militant. The environment is a pretty robust thing and over the years and the centuries has developed a tendency to adapt to the ways of human beings and respond accordingly. So I guess I'm pretty much from the school of treat your surroundings with gentle respect, recycle and reuse best you can and we'll not only get by but hand over an earth that is just as good to the next generation. That said there's something that is really annoying me just now and it's to do with the environment and how people are treating it.

Barely a stone's throw from the Legal-Island offices is a level crossing taking locals over the main line from Ballymoney to Belfast. The crossing is covered in all kinds of garbage. It's a terrible eye sore. It says to school kids as they walk to school that it's ok to tolerate mess in your neighbour. It's message to those visiting businesses in the area is not great either "You are about to enter an area of mess and untidiness in which organisations be they commercial or governmental aren't working well together and are unable to tackle even basic simple issues such as litter".

Yes we've complained. We've been onto the local council who tells us it's not their responsibility. NI railways tell us they're unlikely to do anything about this until it becomes a safety issue.

But hey lets look on the bright side. May be soon as we alight from the train in Antrim we wont be warned to be careful about the gap between the train and the platform for there wont be one. It will be full of rubbish...